Nightshades Falling
by Morning Glory Conlon
Summary: One newsie at the end of his ropes finds himself on the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge looking down into the dark waters of despair. Dutchy would have never thought he would make a new friend on this terrible night. Rewrite of an old fic from four years ago.


**Nightshades Falling  
**(Hear him calling Chloe)

The steady beat of rain poured down heavily tapping against the window panes. Drip, drip, splash, drip, drip, splash, the gutters overflowed into the street below. It was a perfect night to be inside as the temperatures slowly began to drop down. There was a quick flash and a distant rumble of thunder, "Chloe!" A voice boomed echoing through the tenement hallway, "Git back here!" A tall dark figure swaggered down the hall, one hand grasping the wall to keep balance, while the other was wrapped tightly around the neck of a whiskey bottle.

Chloe glanced over her shoulder quickly as she ran down the hallway, tugging at her skirts she bunched them into one hand to make it easier to run. Skipping one, skipping two, Chloe took as many as she could to get away quickly. Unfortunately in her hast Chloe had not had time to tie the laces on her boots, before she could stop herself she tumbled down the last three to the cobblestone street below. Chloe's palms hit the ground first, embedding some pebbles, but that was the least of her problems. Brushing her hands on her skirt she quickly gathered them in her hands again. Hearing the heavy foot steps behind her Chloe began running down the street. The dark shadow stopped in the door way of the tenement, "Git back here you wench!" Bringing his arm back he hurled the bottle of whiskey towards the girl. Quickly he grasped the door frame to steady himself from falling out the door into the street.

Ignoring the shouting of the raving man Chloe did not look back. She never wanted to see him again, or the place. The icy cold rain was blinding and prickled against her cheeks. All Chloe knew was that she needed to run. Ahead loomed the giant bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge the gateway to Manhattan, the lights twinkled a little. That was the only thing that guided Chloe out of the borough of Brooklyn.

On the other side of the bridge a lonely newsie was having problems of his own; Dutchy was sick of being ridiculed by his fellow newsies. Life felt like it was spiraling out of control. Everything he did or said lately was wrong. From where he sold, to whom he hung around with, even to the females in his life. So maybe he was not the most popular fellow with the ladies. Dutchy did not have all the girls hanging around him like Kid Blink, and maybe he was not any good at poker like Race, or even as good at selling like Jack, but it did not give the rest of them the right to make fun of him. He was on edge now, he could not afford his rent; he could barely afford to feed himself. Dutchy had stormed out of the lodging house in a fit of rage earlier in the evening. He just could not take it any more.

Dutchy walked down the streets not caring that the rain was falling in sheets. He pushed back his blonde hair. Dutchy's glasses were speckled with water droplets, causing his already poor vision to be worse than it would have been without glasses. He lowered his head and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, allowing his feet to take him where they wanted to go.

When Dutchy looked up again he saw the Brooklyn Bridge standing tall in front of him. He was frozen to his spot only for a few moments though. His thoughts began to plague him again. What if he did jump? Would any one notice? More importantly would any one care? Before he could finish his last thought his feet began to walk again. Dutchy's left foot stepped onto the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the first of his last. Every thought now was jumbled in his head, meshing together, not allowing him to think clearly. Dutchy did not notice that the cold rain had completely soaked through his clothes now clinging to his body. Dutchy felt like he could not control his actions any more as he began to climb over the rail of the bridge.

As Chloe stepped onto the bridge a great sense of relief washed over her. She was almost free from the restraints of her old life. It was the beginning of a new life. Chloe smiled and kept running; her skirts clung around her ankles soaked from the rain. She only stopped running when she reached three-fourths of the way to Manhattan. Chloe's heart was pounding widely in her chest and her lungs ached for air and a long awaited break. Taking a moment to collect her self, Chloe pushed back the sopping wet black curls pasted to her face, her pale blue eyes looking around at her new surroundings. She needed to find a place to stay for the night, somewhere semi-dry.

Chloe's scan of the new neighborhood stopped when she spotted a blonde boy standing on the edge of the bridge. His features were defined when the lightning illuminated the ominous night sky. Chloe knew what this boy had planned and did not what to see him get hurt. Chloe's compassionate side took over and she slowly took a step forward.

Dutchy heard the pounding feet on the bridge, but did not bother to look. He figured it was not some one who was going to stop him from what he had planned. The person had stopped; he could hear the panting over the rain. After several minutes of silence, without hearing the person leave, Dutchy glanced over his shoulder. He could not begin to imagine why a girl like her would be out in the middle of the bridge at this time of night. Was she here for the same reason he was? Or maybe she was just passing? Dutchy noticed that she was staring over at him when the lightning illuminated the sky again. He held the rails tightly as he continued to watch the girl without saying anything.

Chloe took another careful step towards the boy. She did not wait to scare him or cause something drastic to happen, "Hello." Chloe spoke gently and softly, but loud enough for him to hear over the persistent beating of the rain.

"C-c-can I hel-help you?" Dutchy stuttered partly because of his nerves and partly because for the first time he noticed how cold he was. At first he had a hard time believing that she was talking to him. Pretty girls never talked to him, but then it hit him she was probably lost and just needed direction. Or maybe she was a prostitute, yeah that had to be it, but she did not look like one. Instantly Dutchy pushed that thought out of his head ashamed that he had ever thought it in the first place.

"No, but maybe I could help you." Chloe stated more than asked. She moved closer to the edge of the bridge testing how close he would let her get. Dutchy looked away from the girl to the choppy black water below. What was he really doing, this was not going to solve anything, but neither would going back. When he looked back at the girl her hand was out stretched to him, and the look on her face was one of true concern.

Something inside of Dutchy told him to take Chloe's hand, no matter how much the other voice inside of him said not to. Carefully and slowly Dutchy turned around on the edge, sniffling, he took the girl's hand. Chloe smiled softly and kindly at him as she helped him over the edge and back onto solid bridge, "That's much better."

A bolt of lightning shot across the sky followed by a loud crack of thunder, both nearly jumped out of their skin. Dutchy could see the kind look on her face and felt something weird inside, it was a good weird feeling though. Several minutes passed with the two of them just standing there looking at each other. Not a word had been said, but the body language from both was all that needed to be said. Dutchy was not sure what he should do or say next. He noticed that he was still holding onto her hand and shyly let it go, feeling a blush creep across his cheeks, "I…uh-um…thank-you." The words finally slipped out.

Chloe wiped some water from her face feeling her body begin to shake now from the icy rain, "Anytime." She said meaningfully. There was a distant voice calling out the name Chloe. Looking once back at Brooklyn and then towards Manhattan she asked, "Is there somewhere I can walk you?"

"Yeah…yeah, the Manhattan Lodging House." Dutchy noted the change in her; she grew a little tense and nervous. He heard someone calling out a girl's name, it had to be her just be the reaction. Dutchy was not going to ask questions since she had not asked him about his intentions, "C'mon." Dutchy place a hand lightly on her shoulder blade leading her towards Manhattan.

Chloe thought about how he had mentioned a lodging house, surely there would be room, even if it she was able to stay just one night. She looked up at Dutchy hoping he would be alright; it made her sad to see anyone at that point in they life and at such a young age.

It was a good ten minute walk from the bridge to the lodging house. Both of them were tired from the emotions that had coursed through their bodies in the last hour. Both of them were cold and soaked to the bone. Once they got there Dutchy paused giving him self a moment to collect what he wanted to say. He had been doing a lot of thinking on the way back, mostly about the girl walking with him. Dutchy had figured out that Chloe was not from Manhattan, and probably did not have a place to stay, "Do..a…do you have somewhere to stay?"

"No." Chloe shifted in her spot uncomfortably. She had just met this boy. Chloe had no place to stay, and really did not know her way around Manhattan. It was a tough spot to reject anything offered.

Dutchy was figuring she would say no, not that he had any expectations, but she was the first girl who had ever approached him. Plus he just wanted to help; she had been kind enough to help him through the night so far, "There's room here." Dutchy offered looking at the ground, nervous and awkward two words that described Dutchy best.

"That would be nice." Chloe gave a tiny smile; it would be nice to get out of the rain.

Just then the melody Camptown Races floated in the air as Racetrack came around the corner. Despite the rain he looked as if he was in a rather pleasant mood. He stopped abruptly seeing the two standing out in the rain, "You two betta get in out of the rain before you catch your death." He dashed up the lodging house steps and opened the door waiting for the two to come inside, "Kloppman's gonna be locking up soon. You two don't wanna be stuck out here all night."

Dutchy jumped when Race appeared he had not been expecting. Race was one of the last people Dutchy had wanted to see at that moment, but he was correct. The two of them needed to get inside, "After you." Gesturing towards the front door Race was holding. Chloe went up the stairs followed by Dutchy.

"So who's yer friend?" Race inquired as he pulled off his wet hat and jacket. He glanced over at the sopping wet girl.

Dutchy realized that he had not asked her. He felt foolish now and thought it would be embarrassing to ask her in front of Race, "Oh, this is uh."

"Chloe." She stepped up and extended her hand.

"Racetrack Higgins," He took Chole's hand feeling her shiver, "Nice to meet you."

Dutchy felt a bit of jealousy hit him, but he was not sure why. It was not like him and Chloe had anything. They had just met, but it was just the way Racetrack looked at her. Noticing her shivering Dutchy interrupted, "You look cold," Stating the obvious, "Why don't I show ya where the bunks are and see if there's anything dry you can borrow."

Chloe nodded and said good night to Race. She followed him up the stairs towards the bunkroom. Most of the lights were turned off and the soft snores of other newsies filled the bunkroom. The two of them tried to be quiet as possible. Dutchy motioned for her to wait. Chloe stood awkwardly near his bunk waiting for him to return.

Dutchy rummaged through his things trying to find the cleanest of them for Chloe. It did not matter what he wore, he would find some random clothes for himself. Finally he handed some dry clothes to her, "They're pants…I hope you don't mind, it's all I got." Of course it was all he had, how could he sound even lamer than that? Shaking the last sentence from his head he told Chloe, "You can change there and clean up. I'll find you a bunk." He pointed over towards the washroom.

"Thanks." Chloe accepted the clothes, then turned going into the washroom. She emerged several minutes later with her new attire, her wet clothes draped over her arm.

"You can hang those there, at the end of that bunk." Dutchy pointed once more. He had found that the bunk near his was empty, "You can sleep there too." Dutchy could feel his cheek flush he imagined he sounded pretty silly. She nodded and sat on the edge of the bunk, "I'll be back." Dutchy quickly gathered his things and disappeared. When he returned he saw Chloe was already lying down. He climbed into his bunk without saying anything more.

Chloe rested her head on the pillow, she felt free and happier than she had ever been. Looking over towards Dutchy's bunk she whispered, "You never told me your name?"

"Dutchy."

"Sleep well Dutchy." Chloe whispered. Yawning she snuggled down into the bunk closing her eyes.

"Sweet dreams Chloe." Dutchy laid on his bunk, the bunkroom was quiet leaving him to his thoughts. As he replayed the events of the night in his mind, he truly felt blessed at that moment. Like some one had sent him a guardian angel. Taking one last look over at Chloe Dutchy closed his eyes drifting off to sleep.


End file.
